Put Down The Scissors

Everyone should be talking about the House Progressives' budget proposal. Not everyone agrees that we need to cut, cut, cut to reduce America’s deficit.

America doesn't have a spending problem. We have an investment problem. Despite the popular trope, a government budget is not the same as a household budget. We need to stop thinking of it as grocery list and think of it as a form of mutual fund.

We as taxpayers pay the government and, in turn, the government invests money to produce a return for the taxpayers. The discussion should not be, “what to cut.” The discussion we need to have is, “what to invest in.”

"We have been here before." Graphic CC Sean Thornton

It's not a waste of money to invest in bridges, roads, and schools. Programs like WIC, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid contribute to the general welfare of the country. Bridge and road projects create jobs, contribute to public safety, and help spur business development in new areas. Schools can create the next generation of software programmers or engineers that can help America compete in a crowded global market.

Our investment in defense is wasteful. We invest more in defense than the next 13 countries combined. What return are we seeing on that? It’s wasteful to invest almost $4 trillion in a decade long war in a country that posed no threat. It’s wasteful to continue spending $1.5 trillion on an over-budget fighter jet that can’t fly without knocking out its pilots.

We need jobs. We need well-paying jobs that provide people a living wage. We need to make sure people can afford health care. We live in the richest nation in the world. There is no excuse for children to go hungry or die from preventable diseases here.

People are a good investment. People are the smartest investment America can make. But it’s a responsible investment that the "party of fiscal responsibility" doesn't believe in.

Fiscal responsibility isn't about cutting spending and being afraid of taxes. It's about using our money in ways that will do the most good. We can get a solid return on our investments. But only if we choose the right priorities.

Cheap Marie Antoinette Reference

It's almost comi tragic to look at the VERY SERIOUS debate about the dueling budget proposals in Congress.

Like, here's the lowdown.

We cut taxes a whole bunch cuz it's popular! We did that for 30 years. We cut them for everyone, of course. But, we let the rich get the biggest slice of the pie cuz why not. Maybe they'll take pity and toss some to some poor people.

Hey, while we cut taxes, we can slowly let businesses creep in and expand their control. We spend 30 years letting business make more and more money without significantly raising wages. Workers are barely keeping up with inflation. Brilliant!

We earn less and less but, don't worry, we cut taxes so we don't notice as much. And, hey, we can slowly destroy the safety net. We spend 30 years snipping the cords. Lose your job in 1970, you'll get a significant chance to get back on your feet. Come down with a debilitating disease in 1970, there's a good chance you'll be able to live with modest dignity.

Lose your job in 2008? lol! Good luck. Need social security disability in 2007? Early onset Alzheimer's keeping you outta work? Well, look at it this way. At least you won't remember how miserable the two year wait for benefits was.

30 years later, we wake up on the tightrope. We waged two massive wars without raising taxes and passed unfunded mandates. Shit, we actually kept CUTTING taxes, we have no money. Plus we had to give piles of money to the banks when they shit the bed!

Shit, we can't raise taxes, the stagnant wages we cultivated will demolish anyone making less that $100k.

And, look--Christ--the businesses took advantage of us, fucked up the economy, and now we need to pay for all these people out of work, retiring into poverty, or working two jobs while in poverty!

Goddammit, what do we do?

Somebody call Paul Ryan. We need to cut this debt. Tell him to cut spending. We can't raise taxes cuz the rich asked us not to.

The poor? Let them eat cake.

Image from Flickr user DonkeyHotey